FC Barcelona’s influence is immense in MLS this season, with a handful of the club’s former players in the mix for individual year-end awards who then rack up goals and assists in events focused on the league’s most notable piece of silverware: the MLS Cup. That influence isn’t just reserved for Inter Miami, though, despite hoarding a selection of former Barcelona stars such as Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez. The LA Galaxy boast an equally influential Barcelona academy graduate in Riqui Puig, who has had the best season of his career for a team that has a real case as eventual MLS Cup champions.
Along with Messi and Suárez, Puig is one of three former Barcelona players nominated for league MVP this season, recording 13 goals and 16 assists while leading the Galaxy to second place in the Western Conference. The 25-year-old has become a dominant midfield presence, leading the league in touches and pass attempts this season for the possession-oriented Galaxy. Puig’s performances in 2024 are a natural meeting point for the guarantee he presented as a Barcelona academy graduate and his own MLS aspirations, even though those two concepts were at odds with anything else in his career in the Galaxy.
“Whenever you come from Barcelona the expectations are very high,” he told CBS Sports. “When I come from Barcelona, I think people are expecting something from me that I can’t give the fans, you know? I think I’m trying to score goals, give assists and I think this year was one.” of the best seasons of my life and I am very happy and very proud.
Although Puig had his moments in 2023, his first full season in the league, the 25-year-old progressed up the board in 2024. He doubled his goal and assist tally this season and is now averaging 20 extra touches and passes consistently. with the sport, maintaining a passing accuracy of around 86% regardless of the increase in passing.
He attributes the progress to the Galaxy’s offseason recruiting, signing players who fit Puig’s role perfectly.
“I think this year we have very good pieces, [made] good transfers,” he mentioned. “Also with [Gabriel] sin and [Joseph] Paintsil, I think the team has improved a lot and for me it is easier because I have seconds ahead and that is easier for me. Last year we had a lot of injuries and I think that this year, the injuries and the whole atmosphere we have at Galaxy, is better and we improved a lot and for sure with [head coach] Greg [Vanney]I think he is doing a very good job and we understand what he wants on the field and we are very happy because we are playing very well and, without a doubt, we are winning. That’s important.”
The best season of his career allowed the Galaxy to rebound from last season’s 14th place, trading a goal differential of minus-16 in 2023 for plus-19 this year as they perfected a possession and passing-heavy genre they were given the most productive in its attacking capacity. That includes a 16-goal, 12-assist season for Pec in his first year with the club.
Puig’s MLS reviews ultimately match his personal expectations as well. Vanney and company have built the team around the midfielder, who has finally found his footing both on and off the field. While learning to navigate the infamous Los Angeles away event by traveling to Carson from West Hollywood, he also built a real on-field identity for his own event by adapting to the “chaotic” genre of MLS games.
“It’s a league [that’s] Really physical between La Liga and maybe MLS, but I enjoy it. [it] a lot,” he mentioned. “I think I find my position, which is more of a 10. Greg Vanney too, he leads the team to find me and have a better performance during the season and sure, I always say it’s a league [that’s] very chaotic, always box by box, you run a lot and confidently, I think I improve a lot and I am important in this league and also in my team, and that is important for me because I am young and I think I can improve a lot.”
The 25-year-old may have surprised many when he swapped the Los Angeles League for MLS in 2022 as he struggled for speed at Barcelona, but two years later, Puig looks like a breath of unbroken wind in a season of foregone conclusions. in the MLS. . The league’s strength is its unpredictability, but the winning year of Messi, Suarez and Inter Miami’s Supporters’ Safeguard makes them the favorites to win the MLS Cup in a fun but old-fashioned recruiting strategy.
Meanwhile, the Galaxy’s determined acquisition of Puig marks a trade in a more avant-garde way to strengthen the product in the MLS field: signing young talents who advanced in Europe and who are willing to change a journeyman-style career on the mainland for an extra striking charm elsewhere. As the Galaxy prepare for their first MLS Cup Playoff game on Saturday against the Colorado Rapids and aim for their first MLS Cup in 10 years, it’s far-fetched to argue that the progress wasn’t worth it for all sides.
“I think when I made the [move]All people say that maybe I’m a little crazy because I’m very young and I come to a league that is improving and growing, but I think it’s one of the best moves I made in my career. “, Puig mentioned. “I am very proud to have made this decision and I think that many players, also young players now, can see that the MLS [is] at a good level and growing a lot. “I think a lot of young players want to come here and chase the American dream that they say, and of course I think it’s very important for us to bring young people and players to MLS.”
